rocky getting into pseudoscience for shits and giggles would be SO FUCKING FUNNY. imagine: he might take it seriously for five minutes. the whole point of it is that its vague and convoluted enough to hook people who have some blind spots as to how the world works. lots of earth culture sounds made up! its all very confusing!
and then grace very gently corrects him but also crucially makes fun of him the entire time.
rocky: (peeved) how would rocky know this crazy science wrong and dumb? relativity also crazy science but is real!
grace: haha... but seriously though. its not remotely the same. (twenty minute rant about how people conflating the two is actually a VERY serious issue back on earth)
rocky, being inquisitive, keeps researching and soon finds out that bringing up his new pseudoscientific discoveries & pretending to be fully earnest about it all is probably one of THE easiest ways to drive grace up the wall. needless to say he exploits this tactic to no end.
rocky: i do research. grace is jerk all make sense now. astrology birth chart say taurus with ascendant leo very ambitious. strong opinion, independent thinker. also big ego. easily bruised if criticized.
grace: ... i know youre trolling and this is all bullshit and yet somehow it affects me.
rocky: moon in gemini also very insightful!
grace: dude im begging you to stop. what do i have to do to get you to stop.
rocky: math is sound... stars and planets no lie. opposition between moon and saturn responsible for grace emotional constipation! ohh, grace also have difficult relationship with guardian in early life, expect neglect and rejection from others, is all coming together now...
grace: okay thats it im walking out of the airlock
Wizards of the Coast: gnolls are brutal and violent beasts, they’re dumb as rocks, the only thing they love more than murdering unsuspecting adventurers is eating them afterwards
Me: okay but what if some of them were, you know, chill, like they were just dudes? They’re still people, surely they can’t all be evil as a rule, I don’t like the implications of that
Wizards of the Coast: no they LOVE murder and they’re super evil. In fact, their god is really a demon, and all of them are also demon-possessed? They live in abandoned ruins and stuff because they can’t build their own villages or create anything, all they know how to do is steal and destroy. Also don’t feel bad about killing the baby ones when you’re clearing out a settlement, they’d for sure grow up to be evil no matter what, it’s fine
Me: cool that sucks, anyway I made a gnoll, she’s nice and her name is Sweet Pea
I love 1) having elaborate imaginary arguments, 2) creating characters out of pure spite for disappointing lore, and 3) hyenas
On Grace’s relationship with DuBois and Shapiro in Project Hail Mary
***book spoilers ahead***
I want to do a quick dive into the infamous scene between Grace, DuBois, and Shapiro in chapter 17 (pp. 283–285 in my copy) because an idea occurred to me and I can’t rest until I dig into it. This is the scene in which DuBois informs Grace of the sexual nature of his relationship with Shapiro.
Something about the conversation didn’t sit quite right for me. Upon reflection, I wanted to take a step back from (or perhaps, as it happens, a step further into) my aroace reading of Grace and get to the bottom of what Weir’s intention was in writing it. While I do believe that the aroace reading is strongly supported by the text, I don’t believe that it was specifically intended, which brings us to these points:
The reader is meant to understand that Grace feels a general social disconnect from the Project Hail Mary team stemming from his poor self-confidence
The reader is meant to perceive his total lack of awareness with regard to how highly he ranks in the project’s hierarchy of power
These two points, having previously been established, are both cemented by the scene. Grace is uncomfortable being enlightened to the details of DuBois and Shapiro’s sex life, and he doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that both scientists view him as a superior. It’s heavily implied that DuBois initiates the conversation because he feels the need to report developments in his workplace relationships to a higher-up, and I firmly believe this to be the case—he comments on the prudence of informing Grace on the subject—but that motivation alone doesn’t account for all of what he says. The way I see it, just about anyone alive (regardless of their personal stance on romance or sex) would feel awkward in Grace’s shoes, which begs the question: Why did DuBois and Shapiro both overshare so brazenly?
The first possible interpretation: Knowing that their relationship is doomed, they’ve elected to completely set aside social decorum in the interest of enjoying their time together to the fullest.
The second possible interpretation: They wanted to test Grace’s receptivity to becoming their third.
Stay with me. We can infer that the conversation was premeditated—DuBois launches into it very suddenly, and the first thing he does when Shapiro returns from the restroom is update her on the basics of what’s been said. This is clearly something that they discussed sharing with Grace in advance. Furthermore:
DuBois gently counters Grace on the merits of entering a relationship under the otherwise bleak circumstances
He’s overly blunt and forthright about specifics, such as the lack of need for condoms and the fact that he and Shapiro have both undergone thorough medical examinations
When Grace demonstrates disinterest, DuBois drops one last hint, which is what really sealed the deal for me: “It’s quite pleasurable.” Grace still doesn’t take the bait, so DuBois begins to back off. After briefing Shapiro on the status of the conversation, he deftly changes the subject by pivoting into science talk, but Shapiro gives another independent push: She interrupts the beginning of Grace’s lecture to openly invite DuBois to sex after the lesson, and then they both look at Grace. Grace interprets this gesture as them being “ready for their lesson,” but I would argue that it’s really a classic case of unreliable narration. He misses the cue.
I imagine that at this point, Shapiro (like DuBois) is willing to give up the cause, but we get one more small tidbit of insight: Grace asks (out of what I can only assume is morbid curiosity) if DuBois sticks to his convention of using Shapiro’s professional title during sex, and they both answer affirmatively. Just prior, we hear Shapiro address DuBois by his first name, and prior to that (directly before introducing the topic of sex), DuBois encourages Grace to address him by his first name as well. Granted, that encouragement was prompted—Grace makes it known that he would prefer to drop the formalities in private settings, given that he views the three of them as equals—but DuBois is shown time and again to be someone who highly values professionalism in and out of the workplace. He politely declines Grace’s invitation to address him as Ryland.
Power dynamics seem to play a role in his sex life with Shapiro, as evidenced by her disclosing that she “kind of likes” his use of her title in the bedroom. With that in mind, I don’t think it’s a stretch to conclude that they would both be into the idea of incorporating (what they mutually perceive to be) actual power dynamics into the relationship through the inclusion of Grace.
Circling back to DuBois’s staunch professionalism, I would cite that as further evidence that he’s coming on to Grace in this scene—discussing the minute details of your sex life with your boss is about as far from professional as you can get. Much of what he says is superfluous and irrelevant to the goal of reporting on the existence of a sexual relationship under obligation, unless you factor in the possibility that an obligatory report wasn’t his only goal.
As a final note, I remember the DuBois-Shapiro scene in the movie sticking out to me even upon my first viewing, just because of how oddly it plays out: The two of them are cuddling up at the pre-launch party, and DuBois seems to intentionally make eye contact with Grace from across the bar—who, being caught off guard and slightly uncomfortable, nods in acknowledgement and looks away. I wasn’t sure what to make of that prior to reading the book, but now it stands to me as a reference to the existing undercurrent between the characters in the text. In both versions, DuBois and Shapiro make a bid for Grace’s attention, and Grace is unreceptive. Given that no pre-launch party scene occurs in the book, I have to conclude that the inclusion of this detail in the movie was intentional and carries subtextual significance.
Obviously, if we take this interpretation at face value, it’s more fuel to the fire that is the aroace reading of Grace. It can be used to argue that he rejects amatonormativity on all levels—not just in his scant experience pursuing longterm committed relationships, but in his failure to so much as entertain the idea of a fling or friends with benefits arrangement, even when an easy opportunity presents itself. Romantic affairs never seem to cross his mind. He’s oblivious to the way his relationship with Stratt is perceived until confronted on the subject by DuBois, and he’s quicker to accuse her of sexism upon learning that she sought an all-male team of astronauts than he is to put stock in her actual line of reasoning. If DuBois and Shapiro were indeed trying to make a move on him, it’s no wonder that it flew over his head.
Even beyond the aroace reading, though, this interpretation still contributes to the narrative: It showcases Grace’s emotional isolation on a broader scale and demonstrates how grossly he underestimates the regard his associates have for him. He’s woefully out of his depth in the rigid world of international negotiations that he gets thrust into, ignorant to the degree of sociopolitical power and authority he’s been granted through his close proximity to Stratt, and unaware of what makes his participation so crucial to the project’s success. It only follows that he would also be immune to flirtation, never recognizing his own assets or what might make him uniquely desirable. Thematically, this underlines his later growth in finding a purpose, building the courage and confidence needed to fulfill that purpose, and embracing love (however unconventional its form) as a driving force.
I actually really love this! Especially the insight about them seeing Grace as their superior.... that's an angle I hadn't thought about before.
I've actually always read this moment as
1. A bit of fun for the reader. Taking the idea about the effect of sacrificing yourself for the cause making you go YOLO and turning it into a light hearted and hilarious moment.
2. Setting up Grace's inability to understand how people can go about their lives knowing they're going to die... and even choosing death. Grace is set up a a character who always played his life safe and avoided pain... so his transformation is complete later when he chooses death to save Rocky.
I never read more than that into it myself but I think the "let's invite Grace in as a third" thing is so cute and funny.... so I am a fan lol.
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